 Now is the Time to Prove Ourselves
I don't remember exactly where I first heard it or from whom, but there's a saying that has stuck with me through the years. It goes something like this: You can say you're a leader when times are good. You prove it when times are tough.
I believe that right now we have a great opportunity to prove to our customers and ourselves that ITT is truly a global water leader. We are certainly in the midst of tough economic times, and there are no signs that it's going to get better any time soon. The global financial crisis reaches into every corner of our lives: housing, credit, retirement, and paying for our children's education.  Leading in these tough times is about getting closer to our customers through product innovation, faster cycle times, on-time delivery and high quality. This won't be easy, but it is within our reach. Our 2009 strategic plan calls for us to continue to drive growth through innovation in markets such as waste treatment, agricultural irrigation and industrial process. We will put increasing emphasis on the emerging markets such as China, India, Latin America and other developing countries where demand for our products will grow in the near term. How do we grow, when so much of the world's economy is not growing? It all starts with a strong focus on our customers; this is more important now than when the economy is good. We have to anticipate their needs, feel their pain, and find ways to make them successful with the help of our products, services and expertise. By staying close to our best customers in this time of uncertainty, we can show our customers that they are dealing with a true global water leader. This won't take a drastic change in direction. It's all about getting closer to our customers through product innovation, faster cycle times, on-time delivery and high quality. We're already doing these things, and you don't need to look any further than this issue of Fluid World for good examples. With our lean transformation effort, we're diving in deep and creating a true lean culture so that every employee at every one of our sites can focus on being as efficient and productive as possible in their work processes. This, in turn, benefits our customers through time and cost savings. You'll read how we landed our largest ever contract in China with LDK Solar, a company that makes the raw material used in solar panels; all three of our value centers are participating in this win. We can weather this downturn and keep growing our business. It will take a total commitment from all of us, and I assure you on behalf of the entire Fluid Technology leadership team that we are doing everything we can to position our business to thrive in the coming months and years. I ask you to challenge yourself to deliver what our customers need and help us strengthen our reputation as a global water leader. Gretchen McClain President, ITT Fluid Technology  Get Ready to Go Lean
Every employee will be involved as Fluid Technology takes a new, long-term approach to building a deep and lasting lean culture.
This is a story about lean. If you're thinking this has nothing to do with you, think again. Lean is coming to your site sometime in the future, and you are definitely going to be involved in one or more "Lean Transformation" projects.  Lean in Lubbock: (top photo) impeller machining cell operators David Orosco and Martin Tovar implement the fourth step of 5S — standardize — on their tooling; (bottom photo) intermediate bowl machining cell operators Gilbert Moreno and Ben Bitela explain the 5S cleaning assignment board to Darrell Robertson from manufacturing services and 2nd shift operator Eric Phillips. The first sites to get the full lean treatment are our Residential & Commercial Water sites in Lubbock, Texas, and Montecchio, Italy, each of which are well into one-year Lean Transformation efforts. The goal is to establish an optimal flow of material through the entire plant, improve plant infrastructure to support future lean activity, and to establish all five elements of the lean foundation on the shop floor. The work being done at these two pilot sites will guide Lean Transformations for all other Fluid Technology sites in the future. Every employee on board The Lubbock project will provide the blueprint for instilling a lean culture into the workforce. At Montecchio, where employees are already far along in terms of embracing lean, the big issue is using lean to create a better flow of products and information between two separate buildings. "To be successful on these transformations, the employees must have active participation," says Juan Cruz, vice president of operations for Fluid Technology. Rob Clark, the Value-Based Lean Six Sigma champion for Residential & Commercial Water, puts it another way: "For this to work, we need to win employees' hearts and minds." At the vertical turbine plant in Lubbock, employees helped re-do the floors, repaint the walls, reconfigure the air and power, and move machines so that the entire space is now more flexible and able to accommodate future lean improvements. They were also involved in discussions on how to re-layout the plant and helped design inventory point-of-use and pull systems. Seeing the benefits Employees see this as essential work — not extra work. Why? As part of the Lean Transformation in Lubbock, they learned about the benefits of lean to their jobs, their company and their customers. "Through lean discipline, machines get cleaned, work spaces get organized, leaks get fixed, missing tools get replaced, issues get addressed and the work day goes much smoother," says Clark. "Also, the shop floor employees can clearly see if they are meeting their production goals in real time. When production issues are identified and addressed quickly, there is a much better chance that they can meet their commitments to the customers. So in the end, everybody understands that lean is the right thing to do for our customers." At both Lubbock and Montecchio, the primary goal of the lean transformation is to dramatically improve delivery to customers through better on-time performance and lead time reduction. If a pump fails for a farmer or building owner, time is of the essence and they will buy from the company that can promise top quality and quick delivery. In those situations, price becomes a secondary factor, so "shorter lead times can drive sales growth," says Clark. None of this will happen overnight. Lean Transformation teams will spend up to a year at each site to improve the work flow and establish a basic lean foundation. After that, it typically takes two or three years until lean is fully ingrained in the culture — with employees living it every day and customers benefiting from the improvements. By taking the long-term view with lean, ITT Fluid Technology will realize long-term benefits in terms of increased business revenues, greater customer loyalty and a more energized work force.  ITT Provides Pumping Power for Solar Power Plant
LDK is purchasing pumps from all three Fluid Technology value centers, thanks to our One ITT sales approach.
Solar power is a market on the rise. Global demand for this renewable energy source is growing at almost 30 percent a year, and production of solar cells that turn sunlight into electricity increased more than 50 percent last year. In September, ITT Fluid Technology established itself as a significant player in this hot market by winning a $41 million contract with LDK Solar. Founded just six years ago, this China-based company is now the world's largest producer of solar wafers that enable photovoltaic — or solar — cells to work.  LDK Solar will produce polysilicon for solar wafers at its new Jiangxi, China plant. "China is the new star in the global polysilicon industry and we are excited to aid in its growth through this project," says Carter Chan, vice president of sales and service for ITT China. "China is the new star in the global polysilicon industry and we are excited to aid in its growth through this project," says Carter Chan, vice president of sales and service for ITT China. For utility and manufacturing processes, the LDK complex is installing horizontal split pumps, vertical turbine pumps and ANSI and API pumps from ITT's Industrial Process business. For wastewater treatment applications, it will use Flygt-brand pumps and mixers from our Water and Wastewater business. And for building and water applications, LDK selected Bell & Gossett —brand valves, air separators and HVAC pumps from our Residential & Commercial Water business. It's the largest single-project pump order ever for Fluid Technology. The sale also represents a huge leap forward for the One ITT customer approach. "We got the original order for our Industrial Process products, and by building up trust with the customer, we were able to successfully position all three Fluid businesses through one channel," says Cheri Tian, strategic account and national sales manager for ITT China. The ITT pumps are coming from Korea, Sweden, China and the United States, and the ability of Tian and project manager Massimiliano Caraffa to coordinate the ordering, delivery and installation processes was a huge plus in a project as complex as this one. The customer also liked the fact that it could reduce procurement costs by dealing with one supplier. The contract sends a powerful message to manufacturers of solar power equipment around the globe. "The world is moving toward energy efficiency, and we have the right products and the right One ITT solution for manufacturers of green, solar energy products," says Chan.  Fresh Water from Seawater
When ITT Water and Wastewater completed the design and commissioning of a huge desalination plant in Dubai, it sent a message about our capabilities in this market.
One of the world's 10 largest seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants is operating in Dubai, UAE. As it transforms salt water from the Arabian Sea into drinking water, the plant will also alter ITT's profile in the growing desalination market. ITT Water and Wastewater was the prime subcontractor under PAL Technologies on this sophisticated reverse osmosis (RO) system that allows the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority to produce 30 million gallons of fresh water each day for city residents and visitors.  ITT Water and Wastewater was the prime subcontractor on a sophisticated reverse osmosis system that will produce 30 million gallons of fresh water each day for Dubai residents and visitors. Removing salt using less energy With ITT's reverse osmosis system, seawater is fed through a chemical and filtration pre-treatment process to remove large particles and then run through membranes that remove more than 99 percent of the salts. RO high pressure booster pumps generate the necessary pressure to drive the water across the reverse osmosis membrane, leaving the salts behind, and thereby producing fresh water. Reverse osmosis technology has existed for decades, but the drawback has always been high energy requirements. The saltier the water, the more energy, or pressure it takes to push the water through the membranes. To overcome this obstacle, ITT's solution includes energy recovery turbines. About forty percent of the seawater sent into the system comes out as fresh water. The remaining concentrate is sent back to the sea by a turbo-charger device with an energy recovery turbine on one end and a high pressure pump on the other end, much like a turbo-charger in an automobile. This energy recovery system reduces the amount of power that needs to be produced for the RO booster pumps, the main energy consumer of RO desalination. When the first large-scale seawater reverse osmosis plants were built in the 1980s, they consumed about 8 kilowatt/hours of energy for every cubic meter of fresh water produced. By generating much of its own power, next generation energy recovery turbines have cut external energy requirements by 45 percent. Project management For this project, ITT provided the complete process and controls design, building layout requirements, equipment supply, installation, plant commissioning and operator training. PAL Technologies of Abu Dhabi was the EPC contractor for the project. EPC stands for Engineering, Procurement and Construction. PAL's responsibility included overall project management, facilities engineering, civil construction and ancillary mechanical and electrical works. Having designed and coordinated the installation of one of the world's largest seawater reverse osmosis systems, ITT is now in a position to be considered for similar projects. Population growth and its stress on our world's fresh water resources is inevitable. This will drive increased need for desalination solutions and the growth of ITT's market opportunities in this area.  New Numbers for EthicsPoint
EthicsPoint — ITT's 24-hour ethics and compliance help line — has new phone numbers.
If you have a question or concern that requires you to reach outside the company for an answer — either because there is no one at the company immediately available or you don't feel comfortable taking your issue to an ITT representative — you should call EthicsPoint. It's a global service. All incoming calls are automatically routed to native speakers or connected with a live interpreter. It's also completely confidential. The EthicsPoint lines do not have caller ID, but they are dedicated to ITT so the EthicsPoint call specialist will know the call is related to an ethics or compliance concern at ITT. EthicsPoint representatives cannot give advice, but they will route the information you provide to the appropriate people at ITT. The system will help ensure that your concerns are addressed in a timely and thorough manner. Here are the phone numbers: United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam Dial 866-294-8691 International Calls (direct) 1. From an outside line dial number below 2. The call will be answered in the first language listed. To continue your call in another language, state your language to request an interpreter. It may take 1-3 minutes to arrange for an interpreter. During this time, do not hang up.
International Calls (indirect) 1. From an outside line dial number below 2. At the prompt, dial 866-294-8691 3. The call will be answered in English. To continue your call in another language, state your language to request an interpreter. It may take 1-3 minutes to arrange for an interpreter. During this time, do not hang up.
Calls from Other Countries 1. Ask the operator to place a collect (reverse charge) call to the United States to 503-748-0495. 2. When the operator asks who is placing the call, give the name "ITT Corporation" rather than your own name. 3. The operator will dial the ITT Corporation reporting hotline number to confirm that the charges will be accepted. Web Reporting Go to www.ethicspoint.com or click here for a direct link to the ITT reporting site: https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/media/en/gui/9181/index.html.  Multiplication That Matters
Fluid Technology's donations to poor students in Yi County, China, continue to expand.
Caring is contagious. Eight years ago, while serving as general manager of ITT's pump plant in Shenyang, China, Per-Inge Birgersson visited a poverty-stricken suburb and made a personal vow to make a positive, long-term impact on the lives of the children in Yi County.  In October, Mike Kuchenbrod (top photo) and Jan-Olov Nilsson (middle photo) were part of an Fluid Technology team that traveled to Yi County to see how ITT employee donations are improving schools — and students' lives — in Yi County, China. Their generosity has funded the purchase of school construction projects and renovations — including new heating systems in student dormitories — for seven schools in Yi County. The money has also helped buy new chairs, desks, books and school supplies. In late October 2008, the latest — and largest — project funded by ITT donations was on display: gleaming, new classrooms for the Toutai Primary School. After the celebratory ribbon was cut, students ran smiling through the classrooms to see inspect their new desks and chairs. Following in the footsteps of Birgersson, a number of ITT employees from China and Sweden have gotten personally involved in these projects. Mike Kuchenbrod, president of ITT China and India, recently toured three Yi County schools to meet with the students and teachers his company is helping. "It will be a day I remember forever, and a day that I felt very proud to be associated with ITT," says Kuchenbrod. At one of his last stops, Kuchenbrod met a high school student who has been "sponsored" by ITT donations through primary and middle school. Sophie Wang, a human resources manager who was part of Kuchenbrod's team, provided the student with some warm clothing and financial support to help continue her education through the top high school in Yi County. "A very high percentage of the students from this high school proceed to university, which is remarkable for this part of China," says Kuchenbrod. "This is clearly an opportunity made possible by all the employees who contributed — and continue to contribute — to the Yi County school development project." Eight years after Per-Inge Birgersson decided he could help bring a brighter future to the young people of Yi County, ITT employees have made sure the dream never dimmed. They have lighted the path forward for children who might have been lost otherwise. |